


In Which Merlin is Tired of the Ministry of Magic's Poor Excuse of Government

by stellaisnotamermaid



Series: Merlin at Hogwarts [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Merlin (TV)
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:28:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25696534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellaisnotamermaid/pseuds/stellaisnotamermaid
Summary: Merlin wasn't entirely certain that staying with the Order of the Phoenix—the majority of whom didn't know him—was his best idea ever, but it definitely beat being out of touch with the rest of the magical world for the summer. A little push here and a little nudge there, and he'd managed to get Sirius to invite him, Arthur, and Draco to stay with the rest of the Order.Or, Merlin was quite honestly exhausted from dealing with the so-called Dark Lord, but he still had to pace himself lest he throw the entire magical world out of balance. Even so, he was struggling with not showing up this pink lady from the Ministry of Magic. Was this seriously who the ministry deemed an acceptable teacher? She wasn't even teaching the students at all!
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: Merlin at Hogwarts [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1449505
Comments: 364
Kudos: 861





	1. in which adults do not understand that they can't keep children out of a war when the opposing side's leader's goal is to kill one of said children

**Author's Note:**

> my ["beta"](https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_Met_A_Girl)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the first time in two years I'm uploading smth before it's complete but I gave myself a deadline of September to finish this and it's August and I haven't written since like January so... hopefully this will pressure me into writing more/more often. unfortunately, I got writer's block as soon as I opened the document so... yeet? I also apparently have a different writing style again so I'm looking at what was already written and reading it as if it's clunky yet nothing I write seems to be better so... fun!
> 
> anyway, enjoy, feel free to yell at me to write more in the comments just try not to be too mean bc I'm sensitive. okay coolios here's chapter one—

“We’re what?” Draco asked flatly, yet as though he couldn’t quite believe the words that came out of Merlin’s mouth.

“We’re going to stay with Remus, Sirius, the Weasleys, and a few other people this summer.”

_ “Why?” _

“Basically,” Merlin said, “What with the ‘Dark Lord’ returning, people are making an organization to fight against him and the Death Eaters. They need all the help they can get, and people are more likely to join a fight if they see a lot of people fighting for that cause. It will also force the Death Eaters to think twice before rejoining Voldemort if there are more people on the other side.”

“Yes, but… I’m sure not  _ everybody _ in the order is going to be staying at the same address.”

“Certainly not,” Arthur said. “But they don’t fully trust us, and won’t keep us in the loop if we aren’t there all the time.”

“Then how do you know about it?” Draco asked, frowning. “If it’s so secret at the moment since it’s vulnerable, then why would they tell people who could easily betray them?”

“Oh,” Merlin said, ignoring the first question. “Not all of them know we’re coming. Remus trusts us, which means that Sirius trusts us, and it’s his house. He managed to let the secret-keeper grant us access.”

Merlin sighed when the entirety of the kitchen erupted in anger. Fred and George were furious that Sirius was considering telling Harry about what had happened over the course of the summer so far; they were of age and hadn’t been told.

It’d been like this all summer: a fight over who got to know what, and why they couldn’t. Merlin had informed Draco of—a censored version of—the events of each meeting. It was the kids’ world, too, and, quite frankly, Merlin didn’t see much difference in the innocence of the adults and the kids. They’d only been a few years older than them when the first war had occurred, and those who didn’t know what was happening couldn’t possibly hope to survive.

Merlin and Arthur had met each other in their early twenties, and had had to fight for their lives almost immediately after meeting each other.

"It's not my fault you haven't been told what the Order's doing. That's your parents' decision. Harry, on the other hand—"

"It's not down to you to decide what's good for Harry! You haven't forgotten what Dumbledore said, I suppose?"

"Which bit?"

"The bit about not telling Harry more than he  _ needs to know." _

"Is Sirius not Harry's guardian?" Merlin interrupted smoothly. It was obvious they both wanted what was best for Harry, but he didn’t approve of Molly’s way of going about protecting him. Ignorance led one down a dangerous road, after all.

Sirius turned toward him, face curious. They hadn’t spoken much over the summer— _ Merlin _ hadn’t spoken much. It hadn’t been his place to interfere yet, and these people would never trust him if he kept fighting with them. They’d never trust him if he never agreed, either, but he wasn’t about to go and lie if he could avoid it—especially about morals.

Molly just turned red and glared at him in anger. "He doesn't need to know everything—you were there when Dumbledore instructed all of us—he's much wiser than any of us."

Lupin's gaze fell on Merlin, eyes sharp with worry, as though he were afraid of his reaction.  _ As if he hadn’t been treated like scum by those he tended to avoid using magic around already; as if he hadn’t refrained from letting his magic loose in a burst of anger. _

But Merlin just raised his arms in faux surrender, a small smile slipping across his face. He turned his attention to his hands and picked at his fingernails, snorting quietly enough that nobody other than Arthur could hear him.  _ Wiser, that's right. _ There was no way that Harry would be able to survive this coming year if he didn’t know what was going on with the Dark Lord trying to kill him.

"I don't intend to tell him  _ more than he needs to know,  _ Molly, but as he was the one who saw Voldemort come back, he has more right than most to—"

"He's not a member of the Order of the Phoenix! He's only fifteen and—"

Merlin let himself tune out the rest of their argument. It was evident that neither would change their mind, and he could always fill Harry in on the details of their meetings later. In his opinion, none of them should have been excluded from the meeting—they all loved Harry enough not to turn on him, or just had decent morals, in Draco’s case, and they were still at risk of being attacked by the Death Eaters.

Lupin interrupted then at one point, quiet; "Personally, I think it's better that Harry gets the facts—not all the facts, Molly, but the general picture—from us, rather than a garbled version from… others."

"I agree," Merlin said. "Although I think he should know everything; you never know what will be important for him to know, and if somebody kidnaps him, it's too late as it is."

Molly looked at him, bewildered. "Well… well… I can see I'm going to be overruled. I'll just say this: Dumbledore must have had his reasons for not wanting Harry to know too much, and speaking as someone who has got Harry's best interests at heart—"

"He's not your son," Sirius all but whispered, voice hard.

"He's as good as," she argued. "Who else has he got?"

_ "He's got me!" _

"Yes—the thing is, it's been rather difficult for you to look after him while you've been locked up in Azkaban, hasn't it?"

Then, two things happened at once; Merlin pushed off of the counter he'd been leaning against and moved over to the table, and Sirius stood up, pushing his chair back.

"That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have him now," Merlin said. "And it was hardly his fault. He didn't murder those people, Peter Pettigrew did. You  _ know _ that."

Merlin felt Arthur's hand gently wrap around his arm at the same time that he saw Lupin do the same thing to Sirius. Merlin turned his head to glare at Arthur’s diplomatic apathy, but forced himself to lean back against the counter again.

"Molly, you're not the only person at this table who cares about Harry." Lupin's voice was sharper than Excalibur. "Sirius,  _ sit down." _

Sirius’ lip was curled, but he sat back down, tense.

“I think Harry ought to be allowed a say in this,” Lupin continued. “He’s old enough to decide for himself.”

“Very well,” Molly said, voice cracking, almost inaudible. “Ginny—Ron—Hermione—Fred—George—I want you out of this kitchen, now.”

“We’re of age!” the twins yelled together.

“If’ Harry’s allowed, why can’t I?”

“Mum, I  _ want _ to!”

_ “No!” _ Molly shouted, face beet red. “I absolutely forbid—”

“Molly, you can’t stop Fred and George; they  _ are _ of age.” Arthur Weasley said tiredly. They were all tired of this argument.

“They’re still at school—”

Merlin could see that the argument was going nowhere other than being a complete waste of time, and stepped in before anybody else could add to the argument. “Molly, I know they’re mostly your children, but your husband is right: they are legally adults now. And you and I  _ both  _ know that Harry’ll tell Ron and Hermione everything—and it isn’t fair to Ginny if she’s the only one who doesn’t know what’s going on.”

“I assume that means you’re planning on telling Draco everything that happens here?”

“Unless you don’t mind me bringing him down here to participate in the conversation, of course.”

“I—oh, all right then.” Molly conceded, nearly shaking with anger.

“They need to know what’s happening around them,” Merlin said, attempting to explain to her that he wasn’t trying to undermine her authority. “All my life, I haven’t once experienced somebody live in ignorance during wartime and survive it.”

_ “‘All your lifetime,’”  _ she repeated. “Your whole, what, twenty-five years? I’ve lived much longer than you, and wasn’t just a child in the last war. How many wars have you even lived through besides the one?”

Merlin stepped away from where he was resting against Arthur and the counter. “You don’t know me, and you don’t know my life. I’ve lived through more than you could  _ possibly _ imagine. Don’t act like you’ve more experience on your side.”

“Mabon,” Arthur said softly.

Merlin blinked and the room seemed to come back to life; candles he’d unknowingly put out relighting. “I’m going up to bed. I don’t care what you decide anymore.”

The room was silent after his departure. Arthur slunk out of the door after him, and ran into Draco coming down the stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk how often i'll update, maybe once every week/every two weeks? that wouldn't meet my deadline tho so... hm.............  
> also apparently even though I myself am not cishet, I do not know how to write lgbtqia+ chars out of texting or relationships? like I can't find a good place to throw in ace jokes and idk any trans jokes except transparent which if merlin turns invisible in front of draco i am DEFINITELY using but idk if that'll happen so uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh any suggestions? how does one write? i have like 30 wips I've started since January and they're all gen so ships are Foreign to me and again I am c*sgender so yeah tips would be appreciated!!! I'm rambling bc I feel guilty that I keep saying I'll finish this and I haven't. okay cool beans see you next update.


	2. In Which Merlin and Arthur Realize that they are Not Subtle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> is there a point in adding chapter summaries when the chapter titles are basically summaries? maybe if i wrote chapter summaries I would know what happens in my own fics. this should be in the notes section but I wanted to write something here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MULTIPLE THINGS:  
> 1) I have a beta!!!! it's the lovely [I_Met_A_Girl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_Met_A_Girl)  
> (here's to hoping that link works; idk how to code)  
> 3) I am a Fool and completely missed one of the things she pointed out, so I just went back through and edited that; I forgot that Arthur was there in the third fic as a guest lecturer.  
> 2) I have a trashy memory so I forget the other things!!!

“What’s happening?” Merlin asked, stepping into the drawing-room bright and early the next morning.

“Some doxies and possibly a boggart,” Molly said, refusing to look him in the eye. Harry and Ron were standing next to two bottles of a strange black liquid, but neither had made a move to pick them up; Molly already had one in her hand.

Sirius stepped into the room, a bag full of bloodied dead rats in his hand. “I’ve just been feeding Buckbeak,” he said to Harry who was staring at the bag in confusion, then stepped over to the locked cabinet. “Well, Molly, I’m pretty sure that this is a boggart, but perhaps we ought to let Mad-Eye have a shifty at it before we let it out—knowing my mother it could be something much worse.”

Merlin sighed and stepped out of the room. It was too early for this, and he hadn’t had any caffeine yet.

He’d just gotten to the kitchen to make himself some breakfast when there was a deafening uproar from the entrance. A loud clanging noise—the bell—and a cacophony of screeches and wails that were not dissimilar to a banshee.

Footsteps thundered down the stairs, and Sirius rushed to the door to open it.

“Hestia’s just relieved me, so she’s got Moody’s cloak now, thought I’d leave a report for Dumbledore…” Kingsley Shacklebolt’s voice drifted down the hall, but Merlin ignored him in favor of Arthur, who had just entered the kitchen.

“What _was_ that?” he demanded, blinking blearily, clothes rumpled as though he’d thrown them on in an instant in an effort to shut the portrait of Sirius’ mother up.

“Shacklebolt’s here.” Merlin replied, stepping over to Arthur. “How did you sleep? Did I wake you up when I got up?”

Arthur shrugged, reaching for an apple. “It’s not too awful sleeping here, but last night…” There were circles under his eyes that matched the ones he’d had after staying up all night drafting the law that would repeal the ban on magic in Camelot. He looked up at Merlin and cracked a grin, “And you know how easily I fall back asleep; the only problem I had with you waking up before me was that you weren’t there when I did.”

Merlin snorted, and took a bite of his apple. “Can’t stand living a minute without me?” he teased.

Instead of a retort, Arthur shook his head and stepped over to Merlin, caging him against the counter.

“I wish we were back at home.”

The silent _Me, too,_ died on Merlin’s lips in favor of him taking the apple from Arthur’s hand and setting it on the countertop behind him, then leaning forward to kiss his husband. Merlin brought his hands up around Arthur’s neck and Arthur’s hands settled on his hips.

“Come with me to Hogwarts this year.” Merlin said, barely even pulling back to give himself—or Arthur—room to breathe.

“Are you sure _you_ aren’t the one who can’t stand to live without _me?”_ Arthur asked, and Merlin leaned back a tiny bit to look him in the face.

“I’m just making sure that you aren’t too miserable this year; you ought to know how _insufferable_ you are when you don’t get what you want.” Merlin said, face innocent other than the slight glint of mirth in his eyes.

“What excuse will you use this year? Am I guest lecturing for your class again because you’re too lazy to do your own job?”

Merlin let out a choked laugh, then smiled. “I  _ could _ always just leave you here, considering the fact that you can  _ apparently  _ live just fine without me.”

“Hm, see, but I don’t think  _ you _ can live without me, considering I, you know,  _ died,  _ and you decided to  _ tie my life force to yours.” _

“Don’t joke about that, you prat.”

“It’s been five thousand years, one would expect you to have gotten over it,” Arthur replied, a smirk on his face.

“Would you have?”

Arthur froze and let out a sigh. “You’ve got me there. Anyway, yeah, I’ll come. We can work out the details later, okay?”

A soft smile broke out across Merlin’s face. “Okay.”

“Do you _have_ to be so lovey-dovey where anybody can walk in on you?” Draco asked, walking into the kitchen, a book in his hand. “I know you’re ‘two sides of a coin’ or whatnot, but you’re in the _kitchen._ Where people _eat._ ”

“I—you—what?”

“What?” Draco asked, grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl.

“How long have you known?” Merlin asked, moving his hands down to Arthur’s wrists, which were stiff under his fingers.

“How long have I— _ages_. You’re not exactly subtle.” At the panic that crossed Merlin’s face, he added, “And I heard you two talking at the World Cup. I hadn’t fallen asleep yet, and it wasn’t _that_ hard to put the details together.” Then, after a second, he added, “And before you panic, I don’t think anybody else has found out other than—I’m assuming, based off of the way that you act around each other—Lupin.”

⚡⚡⚡

“So…” Merlin said, quite a while after Draco had admitted that he knew who they were.

Draco raised his eyebrows in expectation.

“How’s your book?”

Draco glanced down at the book in his hands and shrugged. “It’s okay. Interesting topic—different spells to use while dueling—but it goes back and forth a lot, and was written in Old English.”

“English, as it is, is a… difficult language, but Old English is an entirely different level. Also, I was wondering if you wanted to try to learn any magic from the Old Religion? I’m not sure if you’d be able to do it since you’re not a sorcerer, but Luna managed to perform a spell last year.”

“That’d be incredible,” Draco said, nearly dropping his book.

“Okay,” Merlin smiled. “I’m trying to teach him—” he waved his hand in Arthur’s general direction, “—some, but we always get interrupted. I should probably wait until we’re back at Hogwarts, though—I’m not sure if the trace still applies to the Old Religion, but I don’t want to risk you getting in trouble with the ministry.”

“By ‘trying’, do you mean telling me you will once a year for fifteen years, or are you just doing this without me being aware?”

Merlin practically squawked, turning to face Arthur. “It’s not like _you’ve_ gone out of _your_ way to learn it!”

⚡⚡⚡

At around noon, the portrait of Sirius’ mother started screeching again. Draco had disappeared upstairs to help with the doxies in the drawing-room, and Merlin and Arthur were skimming news articles from fifteen years ago to see if they could find anything they’d forgotten about who had been on what side of the war.

Molly came rushing down the stairs, and when she got to the door, she started yelling. “WE ARE NOT RUNNING A HIDEOUT FOR STOLEN GOODS!” she shrieked, louder than the portrait on the wall.

Merlin sighed and looked down at the newspaper. Perhaps if he ignored her, she wouldn’t be able to break his eardrums—

“—COMPLETELY IRRESPONSIBLE, AS IF WE HAVEN’T GOT ENOUGH TO WORRY ABOUT WITHOUT YOU DRAGGING STOLEN CAULDRONS INTO THE HOUSE—”

Merlin would have slammed his head into the table just to get the noise to _stop_ when she did. Molly entered the kitchen, face red with anger, and went about silently making sandwiches.

“Would you like any help?” Merlin asked, pushing the articles into a pile on the table and standing up.

“No, I’ve got it.” Molly replied, flicking her wand so that the sandwiches assembled themselves. “Actually, would you mind bringing up that flagon of butterbeer?”

Merlin picked it up and followed her up to the drawing-room, where Draco was staring distastefully at the Black family tapestry as Sirius pointed out certain people on it.

“I never thought I’d be stuck in this house again.” Sirius admitted. “It’s ideal for headquarters, of course. My father put up every security measure known to wizard-kind on it when he lived here.”

“If you want,” Merlin offered, “I’m a little stir-crazy myself—I could turn you invisible and untraceable, for a little bit.”

“You can do that?” Sirius asked, jerking up to look at Merlin.

He nodded.

“I— _yes!”_

“Okay, whenever you want to go, just let me know. I’ll take a break from whatever I’m doing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a discord [server](https://discord.gg/5mJWWs7)  
> for whoever reads this and wants to join!! somebody recommended it but I can't remember who so. kudos to you. (here's the code if the link doesn't work: 5mJWWs7)


	3. in which there is a biased trial and Merlin struggles to not scream at the entire government

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just went through and edited part of the last chapter bc of an inconsistency that I didn't realize my beta pointed out bc I am a Disaster.

On the morning of Harry’s trial, nearly everybody was up bright and early—Merlin had to spend five minutes trying to wake up Arthur, and eventually gave up; he was planning on staying there today, but Merlin had wanted to say goodbye first.

He settled with giving Arthur a quick kiss on the forehead, then noticed that he was smiling. Merlin rolled his eyes, stood up, and walked away, grinning when he heard Arthur make a disgruntled noise.

When he made it down to the kitchen, nearly everybody was there. Harry was munching on a piece of toast while everybody else ate actual food.

Sirius was in a bad mood—likely because Dumbledore had visited last night and told him that he couldn’t accompany Harry to the trial in his dog form. He was seated next to Lupin, who looked a little worse for wear, but happy to support Sirius’ head on his shoulder.

Merlin made sure to sit as far from him as possible—he wasn’t sure if Sirius was bitter that Merlin was able to go to the trial—he wasn’t going  _ with _ Harry, but he was going to teleport to the Ministry of Magic and watch the events invisibly. If they decided Harry was guilty, he was going to step in.

⚡⚡⚡

When Merlin got to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the trial was just about to start. He’d spelled himself invisible before leaving Sirius’ house, and barely avoided having somebody ram into him when they moved to sit down.

Neither Arthur Weasley nor Harry were anywhere in sight. Merlin reached out with his mind, loosely imitating telepathy, to try to find them. They were in Arthur’s office, and his partner, Perkins was on his way there.

“Do you think he knows they changed the time and place of his hearing?” a witch in front of Merlin asked her friend.

“I doubt it,” the other witch replied smugly. “That’s why they changed it, you know. It was my idea—quite clever, if I do say so myself.”

Merlin relayed this information to Perkins in the form of a false memory, then froze everything around him. If Harry missed the trial…

When he heard a pair of footsteps outside the courtroom, Merlin released his spell. The door opened, and Harry stepped inside.

Harry gasped, and the witches in front of Merlin sighed in disappointment. It was exactly eight o’clock, and Harry wasn’t late.

“Take your seat,” Fudge commanded.

Harry looked at the seat in the center of the courtroom apprehensively, then sat down gingerly on the edge of it, as though scared the chains would wrap around him. Merlin wasn’t surprised; Harry was not only a child, but the atmosphere of the room was built to terrify the defendant and, in some cases, cause a false confession.

“Let us begin. Are you ready?”

“Yes, sir.” A voice replied, and, while it was familiar, Merlin couldn’t quite place it. 

“Disciplinary hearing of the twelfth of August into offenses committed under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery in the International Statute of Secrecy by Harry James Potter, resident at Number Four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. Interrogators: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister of Magic; Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. Court Scribe, Percy Ignatius Weasley—”

“—Witness for the defense, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.”

When Dumbledore strode into the room, Harry visibly relaxed, but Merlin tensed. What was  _ he  _ doing here? Merlin wasn't terribly familiar with modern court procedures, but he'd said something about being a witness. If he meant what Merlin thought he meant—well, if he'd been near Harry and hadn't done  _ anything  _ to help him—then Merlin couldn't be held responsible for what happened.

Fudge seemed extremely uncomfortable that Dumbledore was there and had gotten the message that the hearing had been moved—but Dumbledore had simply arrived three hours early,  _ by chance _ . The fact that they were purposefully trying to give Harry an unfair trial made Merlin  _ furious,  _ and the only thing that stopped his magic from lashing out was millennia of practicing restraint.

Merlin hardly paid attention while the hearing began, watching the rest of the magic folk in the room instead, but refocused once he realized how tense Harry’s voice was. It appeared as though they weren’t letting him get a word in edgewise—asking him questions about  _ whether or not _ he broke the law, not paying attention to the situational factors, and skewing the Wizamgamot’s perspective of him by asking about prior, resolved violations.

“You produced a fully-fledged patronus?” the witch sitting next to Fudge asked.

“Yes, because—”

“A corporeal patronus?”

“A—what?”

“Your patronus had a clearly defined form? I mean to say, it was more than vapor or smoke?”

“Yes. It’s a stag, always a stag.”

“Always? You have produced a patronus before now?”

_ “Yes. _ I’ve been doing it for over a year—”

“And you are fifteen years old?”

“Yes, and—”

“You learned this at school?”

“Yes, Professor Lupin taught me in my third year, because of the—”

“Impressive. A true patronus at that age… very impressive indeed.”

Merlin didn’t even care about her intentions at this point—if anybody else interrupted Harry before he finished speaking, he was going to lose it. In order to have a fair and just trial, they ought to let the defendant speak clearly and fully—how else would they know that they were punishing the right person, like in the case of Sirius, or that they were giving out the  _ right _ punishment?

When Harry finally explained why he’d done it, Fudge accused him of coming up with a perfect cover story, since muggles couldn’t see dementors—as if Harry would want to risk getting in trouble again, as if he  _ needed _ any more negative attention.

“We do, in fact, have a witness to the presence of dementors in that alleyway, other than Dudley Dursley, I mean.” Dumbledore interrupted calmly, only to be met with Fudge saying that they didn’t have time to deal with witnesses and that he wanted this trial over with.

The Ministry of Magic was seriously corrupt, Merlin thought. It was obvious that they didn’t care at all about whether Harry was innocent or not, but he’d been hoping that they were just stressed over the increase of the usage of dark magic since Voldemort’s return. They —clearly, unfortunately— just wanted to get anybody who dared to speak up against them silenced.

Dumbledore brought in one Mrs. Figg of Little Whinging, and Merlin felt his heart drop. It was obvious to him that she was unable to use magic—and therefore unable to see dementors. What was Dumbledore doing, bringing in false testimony? Was he trying to get Harry into even  _ more _ trouble?

Somehow, his bluff managed to succeed, the witch next to Fudge agreeing that the sensations of a dementor being present were described accurately, despite her visual description having a few incongruencies and being overall unconvincing.

Merlin leaned back in his seat, trying to relax but still invisibly tensed.

When Dumbledore decided that a member of the ministry had to have set the dementors on Harry, Merlin wanted to drag him out of the room by his beard. Was he seriously aggravating them even  _ more? _ The witch on the other side of Fudge sounded downright  _ furious, _ although the effect was lost due to her high-pitched, childish voice.

By the time Dumbledore finally circled back to his point, Fudge was scarlet with rage. He’d managed to persuade all but half a dozen of the judges that Harry shouldn’t be in trouble, but the few that made up the dissenting opinion seemed even more enraged than they had been before.

Then Dumbledore left, not even glancing at Harry, whose eyes trailed him as he swept from the room.


	4. in which draco makes friends

As soon as the hearing was over and Harry had left the courtroom, Merlin teleported back to Grimmauld Place.

Sirius all but pounced on him when he walked in through the front door, eager to hear what had happened.

Merlin nodded once, quickly, then pushed the door shut behind him. Sirius practically melted, nervousness draining from his body.

"They should be along soon, I think. I didn't leave until after he was with Arthur again." Merlin headed into the kitchen so that everybody that was free from housework could hear the news as soon as possible, Sirius dogging at his heels.

"It wasn't looking that great at first—Fudge had framed his questions so that Harry couldn't explain what happened, and tried to make a fool out of him." Merlin started.

"What changed?"

"Dumbledore showed up—apparently there was a witness there, who he brought to testify. I’m not quite sure how she was able to convince them that she saw dementors with her visual description, but I do believe she was present based on the rest of her description."

Sirius nodded in relief, fidgeting with a black rope bracelet on his wrist, then disappeared into the depths of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place.

⚡⚡⚡

The book lists were sent out for the students along with whether or not they were prefects, and Merlin could tell that Harry was seething on the inside. Draco had decided to open all of his letters when he was alone, so nobody knew whether he was one or not.

“Harry, are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Harry said, turning to march back up the stairs.

“Harry, wait,” Merlin said, rushing over to the base of the stairs. “I’m assuming that you’re upset that you weren’t chosen?”

Harry froze, then nodded minisculely. “First he completely ignores me all summer, then he tries to keep me in the dark about things that are trying to get me  _ killed,  _ and now this?”

“Look, Harry, I understand that you’re upset—but did you even want to be a prefect in the first place? It never seemed like something that you wanted to me, and Ron may have pretended that he didn’t want to be, but look at how happy he is.”

“I know, it’s just—” Harry’s voice broke off.

“You’re upset that your best friends got it, but you didn’t?” Merlin asked.

Harry nodded. “It’s just—Dumbledore’s already been ignoring me this year, and now he gives it to my two best friends, but not me?”

“I get that,” Merlin said. “And it’s going to be very difficult for you to  _ not _ be bitter about this, but look at it this way—you didn’t  _ want _ to become a prefect in the first place; they did. Ron has to live up to his family’s standards—with how many of them there are, it’s hard for him to get any attention, and if he sinks below their standards, it’ll be even harder. Hermione has very high standards for herself and feels like she needs to meet those standards, as is evident in her work ethic. They’re  _ not _ leaving you behind, they’re pulling themselves up onto an equal playing field.”

Harry sighed, nodded, then marched up the staircase, pausing half a flight up. “Thank you.”

⚡⚡⚡

After Merlin was sure that Harry had had enough time to get to his room, or wherever he had been headed, he made his way up the staircase as well. He went up every flight, then knocked gently on the first door on the right.

“Come in.”

Merlin eased open the door, entered, and closed it behind him—in a house full of people who hated him for things he’d done four years ago, Draco liked his privacy; it was why he’d asked to stay on the top floor, and why he often took meals in his room. Merlin hadn’t had a chance to talk to him other than in passing for a while, and needed to change that—he’d been the one to drag Draco to this house, and he was the person who had taken him under his wing.

Draco was sitting on his bed, staring at a letter with a mixture of awe and shock scrawled across his face. “I’m a prefect.”

“That’s amazing!” Merlin said, moving to sit in the desk chair. “I told you that you’d be one.”

“You did,” Draco replied in wonder, eyes never leaving the letter, then, quietly, asked, “When you were at the trial, you were invisible, right?”

At Merlin’s nod, he added, “And you’ve basically adopted me, right?”

“Er—I guess? Unless that’s not what you want?”

“No, it is,” Draco replied. “I was just thinking. That would make you  _ double transparent.” _

Merlin snorted—Draco had told him he was trans a few years ago, but up until now hadn’t really mentioned it in passing.  _ I guess he’s comfortable around me, now.  _ Merlin thought with a smile. “It would, wouldn’t it?”

⚡⚡⚡

The next morning, the entire house woke up bright and early—after an achingly long summer, they were finally going back to school, back to Hogwarts. In all honesty, Hogwarts wasn’t that much better than this house, but at least he had things to distract himself with when he was there—here, he had books, but there was a limit as to how much one person could read before their brain started to hurt.  _ And,  _ Draco thought,  _ he was a prefect this year! _

He’d packed the night before—well, everything that he could—so all he needed to do was get ready and throw his pyjamas in his luggage. He was the first one down to the kitchen that wasn’t an adult, and he managed to finish breakfast before anybody else made it down. Eventually, everybody besides Harry filtered down.

Mrs. Weasley did a headcount and frowned, then counted again.

“Harry isn’t down yet,” Draco volunteered, and she jumped, then turned to Ron.

“Ron, go get Harry, please. We need to leave or we’ll be late.”

Ron nodded, shoved the rest of his food in his mouth, and, at his mother’s  _ “Ron, hurry”, _ dashed up the stairs, returning less than two minutes later with Harry in tow. His hair was a disaster, as always, and his glasses were uneven on his face. He blinked at the chaos of the kitchen and glanced over to the door, where Mrs. Weasley was arguing with Sirius.

_ “No, Sirius, and that’s final.  _ You’re not coming with us, it isn’t safe. Mabon already said that he and Awstin could take Sturgis’ place and then head to Hogwarts on the train.”

⚡⚡⚡

Apparently prefects had to sit in the prefect cabin for at least the beginning of the train ride, which was something that Draco  _ hadn’t known. _ Hermione had, surprisingly, been the one to tell him, as he had been in too much shock to actually  _ process _ the letter that had declared him a prefect.

After they were dismissed, he had nowhere to go—he normally made it onto the train in time to get a cabin by himself, but nobody would ever let him in if he got there later. Merlin and Arthur had had a small change of plans, deciding that, once everybody had gotten onto the train, they wanted to run somewhere and then “apparate”(read: teleport) to “Hogsmeade”(read: Hogwarts). If he couldn’t sit with them, and he couldn’t sit alone...

Miraculously, Hermione grabbed his sleeve and dragged him to the cabin where Harry, Ginny, Luna, and Neville were. He was too surprised to even say anything, nor did he acknowledge Harry’s glare at him or Ron’s at Hermione. Draco silently squeezed himself into a corner, and Hermione sat next to him, almost as if she was… protecting him from the others? He wasn’t entirely sure where her new behaviour came from—by all means, she ought to hate him the  _ most _ out of all of them—but he wasn’t entirely  _ against  _ it. It was… nice, to have a friend, even if they weren’t truly friends. It was nice, he amended, to have somebody  _ be nice. _

He wondered where he’d be right now if Merlin hadn’t called him out during that first class, whether he’d be happy or not, and whether others would like him or just pretend to like they did with his father.

Harry and Ron relaxed eventually, having settled on ignoring him, but it was clear that they were both shooting Hermione  _ are you crazy? _ looks, and Neville’s eyes never left him. Neither did Luna’s, but they merely looked curious.

He listened in on their quiet conversation, but made no move to add on to anything they were saying. It was the shortest train ride he’d been on in years—ever, really.

He was only partially surprised to see Arthur leading the first years across the Black Lake—it was kind of funny, honestly; he’s spent ages leading knights into battle as their king, and now he was leading these children into a new life as their teacher. Harry, Ron, and Hermione seemed upset when they realized that Hagrid wasn’t there, but said nothing as they wandered over to the carriages.

“What is  _ that?”  _ Harry asked, focussing on just in front of the carriage.

“What’s what?”

“That—that  _ thing.  _ The skeleton horse leading the carriage.”

“There’s nothing leading the carriage, Harry.” Hermione said, frowning and stepping forward, as if to check her friend’s forehead to see if he had a fever. Draco was wracking his brain to see if there was anything Harry had come across that could make him hallucinate an entire horse when he noticed Luna.

They were staring at the same place Harry was, and could clearly see whatever it was as well. It was, he supposed, good that Harry wasn’t hallucinating—unless collective hallucinations were possible, but he was pretty sure that no-one present had any spells on them.

“Luna,” Draco asked hesitantly. Their eyes immediately met his, and he resisted the urge to say, “Nevermind.”

“Yes?”

“I was wondering, what are they? The things leading the carriages, that is. I can’t see them, and neither can Hermione, Ron, and Neville, but Harry can, and I’m pretty sure you can, too.”

“I’m not sure,” they replied, looking at the creatures again. “I’ve been able to see them since I was a first-year.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ,,,my beta was v upset w me for the pun dhdksklsls i didn't even think it was /that/ bad tbh,,,
> 
> ALSO I started uploading this in a way to force me to write more and it has Not Worked. I have written more in the past month than the two before that but it was still less than 1k.
> 
> And, of course, I now have school.
> 
> I have 5 AP classes & 1 IB class, so,,,,,,, super draining even when the workload isn't that terrible. I'm also not used to waking up early (read: before 10:30). AKA even if I have time I probably won't have the energy to write and this is going to be updated even slower lol. feel free to yell at me in the comments or on the discord server to write (just make sure ik it's in a friendly way lol) (i have anxiety and read into things) (and get offended v easily) (but just say "hey u told me to yell at u so go write") (and if i have the energy i'll do so).
> 
> ALSO: just to clarify, draco is ftm and found out pre-canon  
> (some people weren't sure; merlin would never intentionally misgender anybody)(neither would I)


	5. in which the pink toad arrives at hogwarts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> honestly the contrast between me typing the chapter titles and notes in all lowercase and the fic itself being generally well-written (thanks to my beta who i have not spoken to since august bc i'm too awkward to email her since it's been so long please help me i am Anxious All The Time)(i did go over this chapter a bit today and add/replace things so if there are errors they're all on me)(also i wrote like 1.2k the other day and was like hm i havent posted in a while and realized i'd had a whole chapter written for ages soooo here's this lol)

Merlin sat down at the head table after Arthur—old habits die hard—and fixed his robes, straightening them from the trek to the castle. Hagrid was off somewhere—presumably doing something for Dumbledore, who had politely claimed that it was “personal leave” with a smile just fake enough to let Merlin know it was a half-truth at best, then promptly changed the topic (Merlin wasn’t sure whether he was a poor liar despite his experience or if Merlin was good at reading people due to his)—so Arthur was filling in for him.

A lady dressed from head to toe in pink sat down on his left, and Merlin studied her out of the corner of his eye. She seemed familiar, but he couldn’t openly look at her face just yet without raising suspicion that he was studying at her. Arthur took one glance at her and looked away just as quickly, making Merlin almost laugh out loud and tap his ankle against Arthur’s. Thankfully, nobody else noticed.

The students filed in and, one by one, seemed to take in the change of staff. Draco didn’t look up at first, as he was busy talking to a few younger students who had taken to flocking to him last year, but smiled at him and Arthur once he’d settled at the far end of the table. Ginny and Luna walked in together, and seemed reluctant to go to their individual tables. Harry, Ron, and Hermione appeared to be stuck in their own world, and slid onto the bench, not even glancing up at the head table or around the hall.

Merlin decided that now was just as good a time as any to introduce himself to his new coworker and, after squeezing Arthur’s hand under the table for reassurance, turned to greet her with a handshake. “Mabon Erwood, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m the professor for History of Magic.”

She turned, and Merlin was suddenly thankful for the ages he’d had to practice keeping a straight face. “Dolores Umbridge. I’m the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.”

She was the witch who’d been next to Fudge during Harry’s trial.

⚡⚡⚡

Merlin tuned out the hat’s song and the sorting of the first-years in favor of watching different students’ reactions to Umbridge and Arthur’s placement at the head table. Harry turned rather pale when he noticed her, but that was only to be expected. Shortly after, he skimmed the table, frowning, and noticed Arthur. He turned and said something to Hermione and Ron, who turned to look at the head table as well.  _ They must be looking for Hagrid,  _ Merlin concluded as they frowned and whispered to each other frantically.

He tried to send a comforting smile in their direction, but they didn’t look up again until Dumbledore spoke to announce the beginning of dinner.

After everyone had finished eating, Dumbledore moved to introduce Umbridge and announce Arthur as the temporary Care of Magical Creatures professor, but was cut off by Umbridge clearing her throat.

The entire hall fell silent, and she cleared it again, standing up. Students and teachers alike were staring at her openly (with the exception of Merlin, who was used to having to hide things from people for millennia, and Arthur, who was born and bred to be a  _ politician). _

She then continued to give a  _ speech _ , as if anybody  _ wanted  _ to listen to her. The only people who appeared to be paying her any attention were Dumbledore, McGonagall, Hermione, Arthur, and himself. If he hadn’t been looking for hidden messages buried in her words, he probably wouldn’t have listened at all. As it was, he was only half-certain that Arthur was actually listening to her. It was nigh impossible to tell if he was listening to somebody when he wasn’t genuinely holding a conversation with them.

When she finished, there was an awkward silence and then, at Dumbledore’s beckoning, an even more so round of scattered applause.

All of the students vanished within five minutes of being dismissed, which had to be a record considering how many there were.

“Well then,” Umbridge huffed. “I suppose they must be tired after such a long journey, but it’s still disappointing to see all of them disappear so quickly, especially with such a cold welcome.”

_ Tired is right,  _ Merlin laughed to himself.  _ Tired of you. _ At her silence, he glanced over to her and was met with the realization that she’d been talking to  _ him.  _ “Well,” he said, “It’s as you said—they had a long journey today. I know that I’m tired, and I didn’t even have to take a long train ride.”

“I suppose,” she replied. “Or it could be that that  _ Potter boy _ has been telling them lies about me.”

“If that had been the case, Slytherin would have reacted to you differently, as the gross majority of them dislike him at best. Besides, they don’t know who the teachers will be until they see us seated up here. Speaking of, why would he? He’s always been well-behaved in my class, but I suppose most students act better in their classes than they do out of them.”

“I’m sure he has his ways,” she said, standing up. “And a better question,” she huffed, “would be why  _ wouldn’t _ he. He’s been spreading lies all summer, and it only makes sense that he would create a few about me. Regardless, it was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Erwood.”

“Likewise,” Merlin lied. “Oh, by the way, how does Harry know you?”

Umbridge flushed, straightening her skirt. “If you know of that boy, you know he’s up to trouble, lying about seeing  _ the Dark Lord, _ of all people. He’ll do anything for attention.”

  
_ And you'll do anything for power,  _ Merlin wanted to reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol this chapter's a bit short but the next is like. exactly 1200 so it's a bit longer. also wow i have more written than i realized huh. also help i have an LEQ on an 800 page book i read two(?) months ago due on wednesday and i haven't even started it. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. am i going to be working on it any time soon? no.


	6. in which stuff i dont remember happens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alternative chapter title: in which merlin makes some children see sense and then gets philosophical. possibly some fluff at the end. i don't feel like rereading it i'm tired. oops.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anyway enjoy i swear the chapter isnt as much of a disaster as the title summary and notes

When the fifth year Gryffindors entered Merlin's classroom, they all looked dead on their feet. Seamus and Lavender seemed to refuse to go near Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and Dean stood in the middle, looking conflicted but drifting towards Seamus. Neville came in a little late, robes slightly disheveled, and sat down behind the golden trio.

"Are you all alright?" Merlin asked, glancing around the classroom.

Nobody answered, and he sighed.

"We can sit here for however long it takes you to get yourselves together, but I'm not going to be changing the timelines of the curriculum if you waste our class time being petty. You were all friends last year; what happened over the course of the summer to change that so drastically?"

The fact that he'd be able to hear a pin drop made his eye twitch, but he refused to move other than that; if this was a test for patience, his 5000 years being alive would let him wait for however long he needed.

After about a minute, Hermione huffed, but made no move to speak.

"My mum's not… she didn't want to send me back to school this year." Seamus said, and Dean reached out to hold his hand. "She doesn't think it's safe. Especially if I'm around him."

"Needing space is valid, but that doesn't explain the cold shoulders everybody has. The magic world is at war even if your government is in denial, and  _ nowhere  _ is safe. Voldemort happens to be afraid of your Headmaster, so this school is your best bet. If you can't get along now, you won't be safe if somehow Death Eaters break in or something else goes wrong. I'm not saying you have to be close, but you need to be able to communicate—based on everybody's reactions, I'm going to assume that you all got into a fight without considering the consequences of your actions."

Seamus flushed a bit, but Hermione's cheeks had darkened even more so. “Sorry, sir.” They replied almost simultaneously.

Merlin raised his eyebrows. “Why are you apologizing to me? You should be apologizing to each other for not communicating, and to your fellow classmates for wasting their time.”

“Sorry,” Seamus said. “For not—explaining everything, I guess. I shouldn’t have just started avoiding you like that, Harry, and I shouldn’t have snapped at you, Ron, for defending your friend.”

“Sorry for not talking it out first.”

After a minute of somewhat awkward silence, Merlin got back on his feet. “Okay! We’re going to be learning about different ‘dark’ or ‘evil’ magic-users throughout the millennia. First off, what constitutes magic as ‘dark’ or ‘evil’? Is an ability in of itself ‘dark’ or ‘evil’? Say you have the ability to manipulate oxygen, for example. You could make it easier for somebody to breathe, or harder. Then, you might say, it’s the  _ intent _ that matters. You could, of course, argue that forcing somebody to stop breathing in an act of self-defense is not ‘evil’, to which I leave up to your individual beliefs. So if whether something is ‘evil’ or ‘dark’ is up to you, then why are these specific magic-users so feared?”

⚡⚡⚡

“I don’t  _ understand,” _ Merlin said, burying his face in the crook of Arthur’s neck. “It’s the  _ first day  _ and they’re already fighting. They’ve been friends for  _ four years.” _

Arthur huffed a sympathetic laugh. “You’re going to need to be more specific than that, knowing these kids. Who was it this time?”

“Everybody is refusing to be friends with Harry, which, fine, you don’t  _ have _ to be friends with people you don’t want to for  _ any  _ reason, especially personal safety, but you don’t have to be so rude about it, either. They’re all acting like he’s a liar, but they’re not upset with Cedric who  _ literally backed Harry up. _ ”

Arthur hummed, then asked, “And are they more or less of a prat than I was?”

“Don’t kid yourself,” Merlin replied. “You’re much too smart to  _ not  _ know that nobody is more of a prat than you  _ are.” _

“That’s rude,” Arthur laughed, but pulled slightly away and slid his hand into Merlin’s. “We should probably go eat lunch before it’s over, yeah?”

“I suppose so,” Merlin laughed, leading Arthur through the door and into the school. “How have your first few classes gone?”

⚡⚡⚡

“How was your day?” Merlin asked, sitting on his desk.

“Interesting, to say the least.” Draco replied, sighing. “You sit next to Umbridge at meals; what do you think of her?”

“I’m not sure yet,” Merlin said. “But I don’t think she’s good news, and I need you to promise me you’ll at least  _ try  _ to stay on her good side. The goddess knows nobody else will.”

“I’ll try,” Draco replied. “And—if you want—I can keep tabs on her for you?”

“I’m not sure that’s safe, if I’m entirely honest. She definitely wasn’t happy that Harry got out of his trial without any punishment, and she seems unwilling to believe in his innocence. This may or may not be directly relevant to you and the other students, but I have no doubt that she’s willing to abuse her power if you upset her. If you hear or see her do anything in plain sight, you can tell me or Arthur  _ in private _ , but I don’t want you to go out of your way to keep an eye on her, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Why were you asking, anyway?”

“I have Defense Against the Dark Arts tomorrow,” Draco said, and Merlin hummed in acknowledgment. “I’ve never seen  _ anybody _ interrupt Dumbledore’s welcome speech on purpose, and she did it without a second thought.”

“She spent the whole time after that badmouthing people, too.” Merlin said, then froze as a knock sounded on the door. “Who is it?”

“It’s just me,” Arthur said, and Merlin waved at the door, opening it.

“Hey, Arthur!”

_ “Please  _ tell me you’re not going to be all gross and couple-y in front of me again.”

“When have we  _ ever _ done that?” Merlin scoffed. At Draco’s raised eyebrows, he added, “On purpose. When we knew you were awake. Alright, fine.”

“You should probably be going back to your dormitory soon, anyway,” Arthur said. “You know how Filch is, and it’s getting late.”

“Are you sure you don’t just want to hang out with him by yourself?” Draco asked, moving towards the door as Arthur turned bright red. “Kidding,  _ Dad.” _ Draco closed the door behind him, giving them a mock salute.

_ “He called me Dad, Merlin.” _

“I know, Arthur. I was there.”

Arthur glanced towards his husband, eyes lighting up. “You know,” Arthur said, stepping forwards. “I didn’t hear him call  _ you _ Dad.”

“And?”

“I win!”

Merlin scoffed. “Won what? I wasn’t aware we had a competition as to who he was planning on being sarcastic to first, which I would’ve won, anyway.”

“You’re just jealous.”

“Of a sarcastic comment?”

“Merlin?”

“Yeah?”

“Let me have this.”

Merlin laughed, leaning forwards and kissing Arthur on the corner of his mouth. “Alright, you win. He was sarcastic to you first.”

Arthur gasped in mock outrage and pulled Merlin into a headlock.  _ “I’ll show you sarcasm!” _

“Are you sure you know the meaning of the word,  _ sire?” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ???????????????? he calls him dad?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? i dont remember writing this what the heck


	7. in which merlin finally uses some of his brain cells

Honestly, Merlin wasn't surprised that Harry had picked a fight with Umbridge on the first day. He hadn't even had a solid conversation with her yet—and hopefully he wouldn't  _ ever _ —but he was ready to throw hands. Everything about her felt fundamentally  _ wrong,  _ and he barely managed to contain the magic  _ begging _ to crawl out of him and  _ smother her. _

His lack of surprise, however, did not lessen his concern. The fact that the  _ entire school _ knew about the fight made everything so much worse. They all—for the most part—believed that he was lying about Voldemort’s return for clout, which, honestly, he couldn’t wrap his head around. They’d known him for years, and every time he was ignored, everything became so, so much worse. Even if they didn’t realize that he’d garnered more than enough attention, they had to know what kind of person he was, did they not?

And even if they didn’t trust Harry, surely they believed  _ Cedric,  _ the golden boy? He hadn’t said much on the topic, which was understandable, especially considering the fact that he’d barely been in the cemetery, but he’d backed Harry’s story up as far as he could.

Those who stayed quiet, terrified of the possibility that, yet again, Harry was telling the truth, Merlin understood. The idea that there was a genocidal, incredibly powerful wizard on the loose had to be petrifying.

But those who argued with Harry, called him a liar, made him feel excluded?  _ Those  _ people Merlin would never understand.

Asking him to not talk about it, staying away out of fear, letting out anxious laughter,  _ that _ Merlin understood.

But children were cruel and, apparently, adults were even crueler.

⚡⚡⚡

The next time he taught the fifth year Gryffindors, there was something  _ lingering  _ on Harry, clinging to him, draining him.

He acted naturally enough, but Merlin had experience with sitting through Arthur’s meetings with advisors and guests for decades, and could tell a false smile from a real one no matter how skilled the actor was. Heavier than normal bags under the eyes, which weren’t as squinted as they ought to be with a smile. Tense movements, begging to not stretch skin in certain areas, cautious to avoid brushing against anything, sleeves pulled down as far as they would go to cover  _ something. _

“Harry,” he called out right after dismissing the rest of the class. “Can you come here for a second?”

Hermione and Ron sent Harry questioning glances, and Harry replied with a barely-there shrug, then set his bag back down. “Yes?”

“Are you alright? You’ve been acting differently today.”

“I’m fine,” Harry replied, but Merlin didn’t miss the way that he moved to rub the back of his hand through his robe’s sleeve. “Thank you.”

“I heard that you got into trouble with Umbridge,” Merlin began, and Harry froze. “I’m sure I don’t need to tell you this, but I’m going to anyway: try to be on your best behaviour around her. I didn’t hear why you got detention, but don’t give her any reason to give it to you. I’ve had one conversation with her and she was talking poorly about you the entire time; I don’t trust her, and neither should you.”

Harry nodded rapidly, then turned away. “Thank you.”

“She’s an adult and she works for the ministry. Nothing you say or do will change her mind, and she’ll use everything she can against you. I know it’s hard, but I need you to stay quiet unless she asks you a question, and answer that with something that will please her, even if it isn’t the truth.”

Harry laughed bitterly and ran his hand through his hair. His sleeve slipped a bit, and Merlin saw a glimpse of writing on his hand. “She’s the one who said that  _ ‘I must not tell lies’.” _

So  _ that _ had been the lingering magic on Harry.

Harry turned to leave, and Merlin reached out instinctively. “Harry, wait.”

“Yes, Professor?” he asked, words measured carefully.

“Be safe,” he said, wracking his brain for a spell he could use to protect Harry.

He nodded, picked up his bag, and left, but not before Merlin placed a small protection charm on him that would hopefully shield him from whatever dark magic Umbridge had used in his detention. Sure, the ministry was corrupt, but the fact that they were allowing a woman who  _ tortures children _ as a form of punishment to work at Hogwarts was ridiculous.

It clearly wasn’t the safest place on Earth that everyone made it out to be.

⚡⚡⚡

After his last class, Merlin went straight to his and Arthur’s chambers; it was the same room he’d been staying in for the past few years with the added bonus of being harder to find—Arthur had pointed out that if he didn’t trust Filch or Umbridge, he could simply put a spell on it so that it could only be found by people he was fine with coming in.

When he got there, he immediately collapsed on the bed. If Arthur had been there, he probably would have sighed dramatically, but there wasn’t really a point when he was alone other than self-satisfaction, and he felt that it wouldn’t produce all that much relief. As soon as Arthur opened the door, Merlin blurted out, “She’s using  _ blood magic  _ on  _ children.” _

Arthur froze for a second, stepped inside, closed the door, and turned to Merlin with a tight smile. “Sorry, I didn’t catch that. She’s  _ what?” _

“Harry got detention,” Merlin said. “He refused to tell me what his punishment was, but he’d been hiding his hand—honestly, thank the Triple Goddess that he’s so bad at lying—so I was trying to find out why, and  _ he had lines carved into his skin.  _ I’m not sure how she did it precisely, but she  _ forced him to carve that into his own hand.  _ And I’m  _ certain _ that it was him because it was his handwriting.”

Arthur was silent for a second, then said, “On a  _ completely unrelated note,  _ have you seen Excalibur lately?”

Merlin huffed out a dark laugh. “I wish we could deal with this that way, or at least give her a taste of her own medicine, but  _ nope,  _ we have to be ‘better than that’ and ‘not stoop to her level’. Sometimes I hate having… all of this power, and not being able to  _ do anything _ with it. What’s the point of my existence if I can’t  _ help?” _

“I’m not sure,” Arthur said quietly, moving to sit beside him on the bed. “But I do know,” he said, grabbing Merlin’s hand gently and rubbing it with his thumb, “that you  _ have _ helped them, more than you can even imagine. Look at it this way: if you  _ hadn’t _ come here, then who knows what would have happened? Draco would likely be as lost as he had been his first day of school, for all we know, somebody could have  _ died _ from all of the attacks this school receives, and the students would definitely be more traumatized. You may not be able to wave your hand and make this all go away, but you’re still  _ helping  _ them in ways that matter.”

“I know that,” Merlin sighed. “But it’s just like—I  _ could _ wave my hand and make this all go away. I could kill Voldemort right now, destroy any of his tethers to this side of the veil, and this would all be  _ over.  _ I could alter everybody’s minds so that they no longer held any prejudice, I could—I could do  _ so much,  _ and I’m  _ not.  _ You know?”

“Sure, your magic grants you the ability to do that, but that doesn’t mean you  _ can _ . There’s a balance, and no matter how much you want to, you’re unable to upset it. So, no, you  _ can’t  _ kill Voldemort. You can, however, protect Harry and others from him. No, you can’t alter everybody’s minds, but you  _ can _ teach them to think otherwise—you did this with Draco, and I’m certain that you’ll be able to do it with others. You’ve already started putting the seed of doubt into the rest of the prejudiced students’ minds, and once that’s there, it’s easier for them to realize that they need to change their thought processes.”

Merlin moved their hands to his chest and held them there for a second, then sighed again. “I know that you’re right, but… it’s just tiring. How long have I been doing this? How long have we been here, fixing things, only to have other issues pop up?”

“Too long,” Arthur agreed. “But as long as we’re here, we can keep fixing things. And you’re not alone, either. You have me, and I’m never leaving your side. Two halves of the same coin, yeah?”

“Yeah. That.”

Arthur let out an annoyed huff of air, and pulled Merlin up. “Come here, you clotpole.”

“That’s my word,” Merlin protested, but it was weak, and he just curled closer to Arthur’s chest.

Arthur set his chin on Merlin’s head and tightened his grip around him. “You can’t own a word, clotpole.”

⚡⚡⚡

“Alright,” Merlin said, clasping his hands together. “As I’m sure you know, you’re all fifth years, and what does that mean?” He pointed at the board, and chalk wrote the acronym  _ O.W.L.s  _ across it.

Groans echoed throughout the classroom, and Merlin resisted the urge to huff a laugh. Their almost synchronous reaction was quite hilarious, but the reason behind it was less so—O.W.L.s meant a ton of work on both his part and theirs for  _ every class,  _ and their grades would impact their futures—honestly, who was judging the worth ethic and thought processes of a few  _ children _ whose brains were a  _ decade _ from finishing developing?—not to mention the stress that they would be under.

“Honestly, I forget how many classes you all have, but I know that it’s a  _ lot _ .”

There was a collective silence in the classroom, as if they couldn’t believe what they were hearing, and didn’t want to jinx it.

“That being said, there is  _ a lot _ that the History of Magic exam encompasses. There’s a lot that you’ll have to learn before your exams, and even more that you’ll have to review. I, however, do not believe that it’s fair to pile all of the work on you when exams just start approaching—you’ll have the same amount of homework you’ve always had from me leading up to your exams, and a break from homework just before so that you can study on your own if you so choose.”

The students were staring at him in various states of shock.

“But Professor,” Hermione said, “won’t we fall behind where we need to be if we don’t learn at the same pace as our other classes?”

“Not at all!” Merlin replied cheerfully. “I’ve been teaching at a speed that relates to how well the class as a whole—and individually—is comprehending a subject. If it’s something that doesn’t hold all that much importance or isn’t very detailed, we’ve been spending less time on it as well. I’ve been making note of what we’ll need to spend more time reviewing, as well, so the last week or so before your exams we’ll focus on those subjects. Having excessive amounts of homework isn’t good for you—it causes unnecessary stress, as well as taking up free time that people your age should be using to  _ de-stress _ and socialize. The homework that I’ve been assigning is simply to reiterate what you learn in class, and I expect you to do your homework for your other classes before it in case you run out of time. This is  _ not _ me giving you permission to avoid doing it, but I’m much more lenient and willing to offer extensions that some of your other professors.”

Hermione seemed satisfied by this answer, and looked back down at her notes, seemingly unaware of the scowls other students were sending in her direction for asking the question in the first place.

“All of you who are upset that Hermione had the foresight to consider asking me that question, please consider this: what if, upon walking to your exams, you realized that you hadn’t learned everything necessary, and, as such, would fail? As humans, none of us are infallible. I’m not perfect, and, as such, this is a possible oversight I could have missed. After all, there has to be a balance between work and… not-work, and it’s possible that I had falsely assumed that you all would be fine with a certain lower workload than you are.”

Hermione, as well as the students who had been upset with her, seemed mildly flushed.

“In all honesty, you ought to be thanking her right now.”

Hermione turned even redder, and refused to look up from her notes.

“Now, we should probably move on to class—unless anybody has any more questions on O.W.L.s?”

⚡⚡⚡

Arthur was pacing back and forth across the small field when the fifth-year Gryffindor and Slytherin students arrived. Upon seeing him, they all started whispering in a mixture of excitement and disappointment.

“Er,” Harry said, “not that we’re not happy to see you, but where is Hagrid?”

“Not sure.” Arthur replied, then, at his, Ron, and Hermione’s obvious disappointment, added, “He’s only on temporary leave, so I’m taking his place for a bit, but he’ll be back later in the year.”

He decided to ignore the groans of the other students—Hagrid may be a kind soul, but he trusted too blindly, both in dangerous creatures and in humans, which were, arguably, even more dangerous.

“The first subject we’ll be learning about are kitsune, also known as huli jing in China and kumiho in Korea. We’re going to meet one, but not until you’ve learned what I deem to be an adequate amount of knowledge about them—I wouldn’t let any of the younger students meet one, and, despite you all being teenagers, they’re still rather dangerous. Does anybody know what kitsune are?”

For once, Hermione wasn’t the first one to raise her hand—instead, she flushed and stepped slightly behind Ron, as if he could hide her from being called on. Arthur was about to answer the question himself when Draco raised his hand halfway, almost lazily.

“Draco?”

“They’re nine-tailed foxes, right?”

Arthur nodded sharply and walked a little farther away from the group so that he could see everybody. “Right. The older or more powerful a kitsune is, the more tails they will have up to nine. They have varying magical abilities, including but not limited to shapeshifting, omniscience, creating illusions, and possession. Similar to humans, they can be ‘good’ or ‘evil’ and an individual’s morality is up to both nurture and nature.”

“Professor? What is omniscience?”

“Basically, it means that they have infinite knowledge. Generally, they don’t start out with infinite knowledge, but become more intelligent as they age, reaching omniscience sometime before they turn 1000 years of age.”

“If this is all that you’re telling us about them, then how come we don’t get to meet it today?”

“Oh, I wasn’t quite finished yet. Kitsune are intelligent beings, as I said, and as such are much more dangerous than, say, running into an average fox or a random human being. In Korea, they’re portrayed as evil consumers of humans—particularly their hearts and livers. In China and Japan, they’re viewed as both malevolent or benevolent depending on the individual. This is what I meant earlier when I mentioned that they can be ‘good’ or ‘evil’. Some kitsune will aid you if you find yourself cornered and about to be killed, others will watch on from the shadows, and others will be the ones cornering you. The kitsune that you’ll all be meeting is one of the former, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t fear them—and even if you are not afraid of this particular one, there are others that you have to be wary of.”

“Is there any way to tell whether they’re good or bad?”

“Is there any way to tell whether any random human you point out in a store is good or bad? Sure, a kitsune could help you out of one situation, but foxes are known as tricksters for a reason—it’s equally possible that they helped you to help you or that they helped you only to see you suffer longer, be it at their hand or another’s.”

“You said they’re shapeshifters, right, Professor? To what extent are they able to shapeshift?”

“They can turn into a human; male, female, both, or neither; old, young, or middle-aged. Their transformations are not limited by the kitsune’s gender, sex, or age, although they have to be older than fifty—or one hundred, depending on the kitsune—to first shapeshift. Another fault of their shapeshifting abilities is that they generally appear  _ fox-like. _ Their faces are typically narrower with close-set eyes, high cheekbones, and thinner eyebrows. They may have a covering of fine fur or a shadow or reflection of their true form, and especially have difficulty disguising their tails.”

  
“Most kitsune are terrified of dogs, especially those whose breeds frequent hunts. For this reason, we’re going to go to the far side of the castle so that the kitsune you’ll be meeting does not have to interact with or even  _ smell _ Fang. I expect all of you to not come into contact with a dog before the next class, and if you do, shower or don’t show up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I, unfortunately, do NOT have the next chapter written. Its outline, however, is complete.
> 
> (info on different fox spirits and the idea to incorporate them from [Athena.)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Athena_Hono_the_gray_ace/pseuds/Athena_Hono_the_gray_ace)

**Author's Note:**

> I made a discord [server](https://discord.gg/5mJWWs7)  
> for whoever reads this and wants to join!! somebody recommended it but I can't remember who so. kudos to you. (here's the code if the link doesn't work: 5mJWWs7)
> 
> there's,, [fanart](https://traveler0154.tumblr.com/post/639142959086977024/practice-sketch-of-merlin-and-arthur-in-the),,,, i'm so soft,,,,


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